Chapter 27: When the Hell Will the Protagonist Shou Transmigrate Over?

Chapter 27 When Will the Protagonist Shou Finally Transmigrate Over?

In the medicine hut.

Xue Youtan had his pant legs rolled up, stood in the mud, and finally finished planting the last seedling in his hand.

He looked at the small plot of land that had taken him days to finish planting, and he had a whole basketful of curses stored up in his head.

That jerk Yueli was a real piece of work. He'd promised to work off his debt as a guardian, but when they arrived at the medicine hut, he was all set and ready, only for the man to hand him a basket of green seedlings and tell him to plant the entire field by himself.

Wait, was Cangya Mountain so broke they couldn't even afford food? Had it really come to them growing their own rice just to get by? He clearly remembered that one pill from Yueli's furnace was worth a pretty penny.

"Ow, my freaking back." Xue Youtan held his back that could barely straighten and sloshed his way out of the water. Not bothering with how much mud was caked on his feet, he took off barefoot toward Yueli's pavilion, plopped his ass down on a chair, and even swiped the freshly poured tea right out of Yueli's hand.

Watching the trail of muddy footprints stretching all the way from the field, Yueli's mouth twitched nonstop, but he held it in and didn't blow up.

"Tsk, good tea." Chugging it like there's no tomorrow, Xue Youtan couldn't even taste what he was drinking, but the leaves smelled fragrant, so it should be top-quality tea. "The seedlings are all planted, so that five thousand taels is paid off now. No backing out."

"Mhm." Yueli acknowledged with a hum, casually fanning himself as he looked at the crookedly planted seedlings in the distance, getting a headache.

He'd wanted some tea to clear his head, but just as he poured a fresh cup with a new glass, Xue Youtan snatched it away again and chugged it like it was booze.

Such a handsome face, yet always making such crude gestures—what a waste of a pretty face. Hard to watch.

Yueli sighed in resignation and gave up on the tea, just started making small talk. But the topic he picked didn't seem to land well. "I saw Pei Zhi yesterday. The wounds on his face healed up great. Almost too great."

Yueli stressed the second and third "great," the meaning obvious.

Trying to poke at him, huh? Like he couldn't tell.

Xue Youtan got it but played dumb, pouring himself another cup of tea as Yueli continued, "I was puzzled earlier why you'd rather spend half a month planting rice than hand over the Mist Demon's inner core. Turns out it was all for that little disciple of yours."

"Seriously, what's with the whole hit-him-then-heal-him routine? You that bored?"

Hell no. The hitting was for the system quest; the healing was just out of sheer boredom.

But Xue Youtan wouldn't tell Yueli that—no use explaining since the guy wouldn't get it anyway. So Xue Youtan changed the subject. "You're sticking your nose where it doesn't belong. The Chief Disciple Assembly is coming up. Worry about yourself and who you're gonna pick as your top disciple."

Yueli raised an eyebrow. "Do I even need to choose? Isn't Ling Feng already a done deal?"

"Damn, you're really making that shady nepotism move sound all high and mighty?" Xue Youtan was completely floored.

"You're no different. All the North Court disciples are saying Xiao Yiheng will become the top disciple." Yueli's voice went up at the end. "Isn't that right?"

"Don't try to pump me for info. I'm all about fairness, justice, and transparency. The top spot goes to whoever's got the skills. Whoever's got what it takes gets to be top disciple."

"Is that so?" Yueli reached over and topped off the boiling teapot with some water. The swirling leaves instantly calmed down and sank back to the bottom. "Then, let's wait and see."

Night fell.

Whether it was because he'd drunk too much tea during the day, or because the Chief Disciple Assembly was drawing near, Xue Youtan lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

He remembered very clearly that according to the plot in the book, before the Chief Disciple Assembly, there should be a scene where Xiao Yiheng stole Pei Zhi's mount, Nightfang. It was because of that mount that the female Xue Youtan had specifically named Xiao Yiheng as the North Court's top disciple.

But it was already who-knows-what hour past midnight, and the ceremony would begin at dawn. How was there not a single stir about Nightfang?

Could it be that because of the changed "Cold Pool Incident" plot, Xiao Yiheng hadn't been possessed by the 21st-century programmer, causing a butterfly effect?

Speaking of possession, Xue Youtan couldn't sit still anymore. He sprang up from the bed like a carp leaping and shouted at the system, "2484, give me a hint—when exactly is that protagonist shou who's supposed to transmigrate into Xiao Yiheng, outwit the eight major sects, tame Nightfang, and even successfully bend the male lead, going to come over?"

Sure, he wasn't particularly interested in two men getting it on, but with the philosophy of "one world, one dream," he felt he and this "Xiao Yiheng" should have plenty to talk about.

But no response.

Same as the dozens of times before.

Ever since both the main and side quests had been completed, the system in his head had been like it was drugged with mute powder—no matter how he called, it wouldn't answer.

If not for the fact that the system interface could still open, Xue Youtan would have suspected the system had packed up and fled.

"Hey, 2484, stop playing dead. I'm being serious here, you—" Just as he got to that point, Xue Youtan suddenly detected a faint breath outside his door.

Someone was at his window!

Xue Youtan's muttering cut off instantly, and he demanded in a low voice, "Who's there!"

At the same time, a fierce palm strike swept outward.

Li Luoshu hadn't expected Xue Youtan to strike so suddenly and froze in place. Fortunately, Xue Youtan recognized who it was and pulled back in time, sparing Li Luoshu from being caught in the blow.

"What are you doing here in the middle of the night?" Xue Youtan draped an outer robe over himself and looked down at the person cowering on the ground.

Li Luoshu knew he'd crossed a line, keeping his head low to the ground, only daring to look up when he spoke. "It's because... because I'm about to leave the mountain, so... so I wanted to come bid farewell to Master. But I was afraid of disturbing your rest, so I didn't make a sound."

Coming to bid farewell in the dead of night—this kid really knew how to pick his moments.

Only then did Xue Youtan notice that Li Luoshu had already changed out of his disciple robe and was wearing a thin, pink outfit. At the collar and chest, bright red peonies were embroidered.

Peonies? Wasn't that a style women liked? Why was this kid dressed like that?

Xue Youtan smoothed his sleeves and brushed the hair hanging at his chest back behind him, asking casually, "Where are you heading when you go down the mountain?"

"Home." Li Luoshu twisted his fingers together, looking nervous. "My birthday is coming up. My father sent people to urge me back days ago. Today is the final deadline."

What kind of birthday required someone to come pick him up in the middle of the night?

Xue Youtan was puzzled and about to respond when he heard Li Luoshu continue, "Master, last time you said you'd come to my birthday celebration. I was wondering if that..."

"Nightfang! It's Nightfang!!!"

The last few words of Li Luoshu's sentence—"still counts"—hadn't even left his mouth before they were drowned out by a terrified shout from the front courtyard.

A single stone stirred a thousand waves. In an instant, the entire mountain erupted in a cacophony of noise. A fire broke out at the mountain gate, and even the pitch-black night was lit up by the blaze's glow.

Amidst the chaos, Xue Youtan heard a "ding" in his head, and immediately, the system's mechanical notification followed.